It's not "fair.'' Even the Baltimore Ravens would have to concede that.
Joe Burrow's Cincinnati Bengals in 2025 will be drawing yet another primetime matchup with the Ravens outside of Ohio and once again it'll happen in Baltimore.
The Week 13 Thanksgiving contest marks the fourth straight season during which the Bengals have to travel to Baltimore for a "spotlight" game on national television.
A huge advantage or disadvantage? We're not sure.
But Burrow, upon the NFL scheule release, immediately expressed unhappiness with that particular draw.
"Maybe we can get one of those in Cincinnati. Please," Burrow said sarcastically.
And now the NFL is responding, acknowledging that Burrow's gripe is "fair.''
That word comes straight from NFL vice president of broadcast planning and scheduling Mike North.
"It's fair," North said of the complaint. "It's not a one-or-two years sort of a league where you fix every problem every other year or every two years. Once you start getting to the same thing three years in a row, four, or five years in a row, whether it's a short week Thursday on the road or opening on the road.
"When trends like that emerge, we probably have to adjust at some point."
Aha. And watch for this now: Cincinnati, which like Baltimore is featured in many high-profile time slots because the league believes both of these are marquee teams, is going to catch a scheduling break next year.
No way Cincy is at Baltimore in a prime-time game in 2026. No way.
Obviously, the league will never get every team's schedule set to universal satisfaction. But North mentioned that if he could "wave a magic wand" and tweak a few things after the fact, he would do so.
He can't do it for 2025.
He will do it for 2026.
And he will do it in part because Joe just squeaky-wheeled him.
The Bengals might lose the battle here; the Ravens figure to be favored in the Thanksgiving game. But by politely and publicly registering a complaint?
The Bengals are going to win the 2026 NFL schedule war.